Automatic machine for covering cheese with a coating having an embedded strip therein for removing the same



Dec. 5, 1967 R. H. .1. FIEVET 3,356,063

AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING CHEESE WITH A COATING HAVING AN EMBEDDED STRIP THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE SAME Filed March 29, 1966 ll Sheets-Sheet 1 R. H. J. FlEVET 3,356,063

Dec. 5, 1967 AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING CHEESE WITH A COATING HAVING AN EMBEDDED STRIP THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE SAME l1 SheetsSheet 2 Filed March 29, 1966 thmwkhh hkk M EFMWELWPELFE Dec.. 5, 1967 R. H. J. FIEVET AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING CHEESE WITH A COATING HAVING AN EMBEDDED STRIP THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE; SAME Filed March 29, 1966 ll Sheets-Sheet J Dec.- 5, 1967 H. J. FIEVET 3,356,063 AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING CHEESE WITH A COATING HAHNG AN EMBEDDED STRIPv THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE; SAME Filed March 29, 1966 ll Sheets-Sheet 4 Dec. 5, 1967 R. H J. FlEVET AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING CHEESE WITH A COATING HAVING AN EMBEDDED STRIP THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE SAME Filed March 29, 1966 ll Sheets-Sheet 5 Dec. 5, 1967 Filed March 29, 1966 R. H. J. FIEVET AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING'CHEESE; WITH A COATING HAVING AN EMBEDDED STRIP THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE SAME ll Sheets-Sheet 6 Dec. 5, 1967 R. H. J. FIEVET 3,356,063

AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING CHEESE WITH A COATING HAVING AN EMBEDDED STRIP THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE SAME Filed March 29, 1966 11 Sheets-Sheet 7 I, s r

Z WV. "022 'in C 20/ [206 #202 2 Dec. 5, 1967 R. H. J. FIEVET 3,356,063

AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING CHEESE WITH A COATING HAVING AN EMBEDDED STRIP THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE SAME Filed March 29, 1966 ll Sheets-Sheet 8 Dec. 5, 1967 R. H. J. FIEVET 3,356,063

AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING CHEESE WITH A COATING HAVING AN EMBEDDED STRIP THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE SAME Filed March 29, 1966 ll Sheets-Sheet. 9

R. H. J. FIEVET Dec. 5, 1967 3,356,063

AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING CHEESE WITH A COATING HAVING AN EMBEDDED STRIP THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE SAME Filed March 29, 1966 ll Sheets-Sheet 1O W OD w X my ON Dec. 5, 1967 R. H. J. FIEVET 3,356,063

AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING CHEESE WITH A COATING HAVING AN EMBEDDED STRIP THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE SAME Filed March 29, 1966 11 Sheets-Sheet 11 WN E United States Patent 3,356,063 AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR COVERING CHEESE WITH A COATING HAVING AN EMBEDDED STRIP THEREIN FOR REMOVING THE SAME Robert Henri Jules Fievet, Paris, Seine, France, assignor to Fromageries Bel-La Vache Qui Rit, Paris, France Filed Mar. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 538,282 Claims priority, application France, Mar. 30, 1965, 11,155, Patent 1,441,553 18 Claims. (Cl. 11835) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a machine comprising a conveyor equipped with uniformly spaced sets of upflow and downfiow twin-grip clamps and, beneath said conveyor, in succession, means for conveying and maintaining cheeses below each transverse line of clamps, means for continuously circling said cheeses with endless-strip loops secured to said clamps, a tank containing liquid coating material and movable vertically whereby to coat by immersion the cheeses suspended by the strip loops, pairs of shears for simultaneously cutting the two protruding stands of the loops, a tank for solidifying the coatings, and means for ridding said clamps of the waste strip, control means being provided to sequentially drive said conveyor with its clamps, together with said conveying means, circling means, coating tank and pairs of shears.

y It has already been proposed to protect cheese against surface deterioration such as is caused principally by the formation of mould, by means of a surrounding film consisting of an impermeable flexible coating material hugging the cheese to be protected and in which is embedded, in a symmetry plane of the cheese, a thin nonelastic strip of which the ends, which are impregnated with this material, protrude from the outer surface of the surrounding envelope, thereby enabling the cheese to be disengaged from the envelope after said strip has been removed.

Such protected cheeses have been obtained by using a method such as that described in French Patent No. 1,388,048, consisting in surrounding the cheese with a thin U-shaped strip of length considerably greater than that required to circle the cheese, in hanging the cheese from this U-shaped trip, in covering the suspended cheese with the impermeable coating material and, after the latter has set, in cutting off the two strands of strip which project from the envelope beyond the part thereof in which they have been impregnated with the material.

The present invention has for its object to permit industrial application of this method to the covering of cheeses formed with two flat and parallel faces, and accordingly relates to a machine comprisinga conveyor having a plurality of endless chains which have their horizontal runs disposed in parallel vertical planes and which aredriven at uniform speed and equipped with uniformly spaced sets of upflow and downflow twin-grip clamps and, beneath said conveyor, in succession, means for conveying and maintaining, below each transverse line of clamps, a line of cheeses, means for continuously circling said portions with endless-strip loops secured to said clamps, a tank containing coating material in the liquid state and movable vertically whereby to coat, by immersion in said material, the cheeses suspended by the strip loops to those clamps which are part of the same clamp sets of said chains, pairs of shears for simultaneously cutting the two protruding strands of the loop surrounding the coated cheeses suspended from a transverse line of 3,356,063 Patented Dec. 5, 1967 "ice clamps, said cheeses dropping into a tank for solidifying their coatings, and means for ridding said clamps of the waste strip they carry subsequent to the strip cutting operation, control means being provided to sequentially drive said chains with their clamps, together with said conveying means, circling means, coating tank and pairs of shears.

Each conveying and restraining assembly comprises, on the one hand, a feed clamp which grips at its periphery a cheese conveyed to the machine whilst resting on one of its flat faces and which tilts said cheese to fetch its flat faces in the vertical position and, on the other hand, a loading clamp which grips said fiat faces whilst leaving clear the areas there-of corresponding to the center of gravity of the cheese, said loading clamp moving below said conveyor at the same speed as the latter until completion of the operation of circling the cheese and tightening the strip upfiow of the clamp from which said cheese is to be suspended and downfiow of the next clamp, said clamp being then opened to release the cheese and then returned to its initial position.

The description which follows with reference to the accompanying non-limitative exemplary drawings will give a clear understanding of how the invention can be carried into practice.

In the drawings:

FIGS. 1a and 1b are side elevation views of machine according to this invention, these two figures joining together on the line A-B.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the machine of FIG. 1a, taken on the line abcdej, showing the situation in which the cheeses are gripped both by the feed clamps and the loading clamps.

FIG. 3 is a fragmental section taken on the line III-III of FIG. 1b.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are sectional views in side elevation and plan view respectively of a feed clamp in the open and closed positions, taken on the lines IV-IV of FIG. 5; and VV of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a plan view with partial cutaway of a loading clamp in the closed position.

FIG. 7 is an end view with partial cutaway of the clamp of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an external plan view of the loading clamp in the open position.

FIG. 9 is a fragmental side view of the loading clamp of FIG. 8.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are plan views of a conveyor clamp in its open and closed positions respectively.

FIG. 12 is a side elevation view of the conveyor clamp in its closed position.

FIG. 13 is a side elevation view of the coating tank and its actuating elements.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are plan views of a pair of shears in the open and cutting positions respectively.

FIG. 16 is a section taken through the line XVIXVI of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the feed clamps, the

loading clamps and the circling means, and the control means thereof.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the loading clamps and I .As shown in FIG. 25, it is the object of this invention to automatically provide a coating and astrip 136for a cheese 32 having two fiat parallel faces, of the babygouda type, said strip being embedded in the Coating, from which its two ends a and 12 project. The strip 136 is U-shaped and lies in a plane perpendicular to the fiat parallel faces of the cheese, which plane is one of the symmetry planes of the cheese.

The machine shown in the drawings includes a twopart supporting stand of which the two parts 1 and 2 are in spaced relationship and constructed from sectionirons. The downflow end of part 2 mounts, on a base3, the main driving motor 4 of the machine. The stand 2 supports on uprights 5 an upper base 6 which carries on its downfiow end a pair of chain-driving sprockets 7 and on its upfiow end a pair of intermediate chain sprockets 8. The pair of driving sprockets 7 are driven by motor 4 through bevel gear couplings 9, 10 and 11.

Over the pairs of sprockets 7 and 8 are mounted two endless chains 12,(FIGS. la, lb and 2) certain of the links of which are interconnected by transverse spacers 13. The links thus interconnected are rigidly connected to supports 14, each of which carries a pair of rollers which ride on upper and lower tracks 16 and 17 carried by the base 6. The spacers 13 and their associated supports are spaced at equal intervals i on the chain links, in sets of six, which sets are separated from one another along the length of the chain by gaps e equal to double the said intervals i. Guidance of each chain by means of tracks 16 and 17 ensures that the upper and lower chain runs located thus in a vertical plane are perfectly horizontal. This system operates as a conveyor.

Mounted on each spacer 13 are a plurality of conveyor clamps (three being shown for exemplary purposes), thereby to permit simultaneous processing of three rows of cheeses. As shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, each conveyor clamp includes a base 18 fixed to the corresponding spacer 13 and on which are mounted, transversely of the chains, a barrel 19 and a square-section abutment 20. Fixed into barrel 19 is a pivot 21 carrying, on antifriction bearings 22, two arms to wit, an upper arm 23 and a lower arm 24, arms 23 and 24 carry pins 25 and 26 respectively, on which are rotatable rollers 27 and 28. A spring 29 interconnects arms 23 and 24. Said arms are held in the open position shown in FIG. 10 by two ramps 30 and 31 engaging respectively with rollers 27 and 28. When arms 23 and 24 ride off said ramps, each one thereof closes independently in response to spring 29, whereby to bear respectively against two opposite faces of abutment 20. When both have ridden off their respective ramps, arms 23 and 24 occupy the position in FIG. 11.

Beneath the conveyor system hereinbefore disclosed are successively positioned, starting from sprockets 8, a station for conveying and restraining, beneath a transverse line of clamps, a line of cheeses, said station including feed clamps and loading clamps, a station for circling the cheeses with continuous-strip loops, a coating station, a shearing station and a waste strip disposal station.

As shown in FIG. 1a, the flat baby-gouda shaped cheeses 32 are led up to the machine lying fiat on any convenient type of conveyor. In order to fetch the cheeses into the vertical position beneath the conveyor, the latter is equipped with a feed clamp below each longitudinal row of conveyor clamps. FIGS. 4 and 5 show a twinclamp for feeding two rows of cheeses. This clamp includes a body portion 33 keyed to a shaft 34 and having mounted therein a pinion 35 meshing with an internalgrip rack 36 and an external-grip rack 37 which are slidable through said body portion and from which they protrude on each side. By means of their sections projecting towards the cheeses 32, these racks are guided mutually by pairs of parts 38 and 39 fixed respectively to.

racks 36 and 37.

Fixed to the end of rack 36 facing the cheeses, by means of screws 40, is an internal gripping part 41 made of spring steel and terminating in two arcuate portions 42 of radius-substantially equal to the cheese radius and covered with a lining 43 made of unperishable washable material. Rack 37 carries at its end facing the cheeses a support 44 which is provided, facing the internal gripping part 41, with an external gripping part 45 secured thereto by nuts 46 and of shape symmetrical with that of part 41, its arcuate ends 47 being covered with a lining 48 similar to lining 43. A spring 49 interconnects body 33 and part 44,- and when the clamp is open this spring is kept under tension by a latch 50 which engages over guide 38, is operable by means of a lever 51 and is spring-loaded as at 52. At its other end, rack 37 carries a roller 53.

When clamping parts 41 and 45 are in the horizontal position, lever 51 cooperates with a screw 54 carried on the machine stand, whereby to release the clamp and enable it to close on the cheese through spring 49 which displaces rack 37 and, via pinion 35, displaces rack 36 in the opposite direction. A stop 55 carried by a shaft 56 cooperates with roller 53 when the feed clamp has swivelled with shaft 34 to fetch clamping parts 41 and 45 in the vertical position, whereby to open these parts against the countering spring 49, by driving racks 37 and 36 in the direction opposite to the direction required for closure, said latch 50 reverting to its operative position responsively to spring 52.

' The feed clamp shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 serves two rows of conveyor clamps at once. In the case of the third row, the same type of feed clamp is used, but the clamping parts 41 and 45 are provided with only one arcuate end 42 and 47, as shown in FIG. 17.

The cheeses fetched into the vertical position by the pivotal motion of the feed clamps about shaft 34 are taken up by loading clamps as illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 9. The loading clamp shown thereon is used for loading two parallel rows of conveyor clamps. It includes an I-shaped body 57 fixed to a longitudinal shaft 58 and inside which are journaled four pivots 59 through 62. Pivot 62 carries superimposed thereon, below the body 57, a pinion 63 and a toothed sector 64. Pivot 61 carries, below body 57, a pinion 65 level with pinion 63 and, above said body, a toothed sector 68. Pinions 63 and 65 mesh with rack teeth 69 formed on a rod 70 springloaded by a spring 71 inserted between an adjustable nut 72 carried on said rod and an abutment 73 rigid with body 57 and through which said rod is slidable. At its other end rod 70 carries an abutment 74 adapted to engage with a latch 75 pivotally connected to a body 57 and biased by a spring 76. Pivots 59 and 60 carry toothed sectors 77 and 78 engaging with toothed sectors 64 and 68.

In the intermediate portions of pivots 59 to 62 are loosely mounted arms 79 carrying pallets 80 which are detachable to permit periodic cleaning and retained in position by spring blades 81. Above each arm 79 is mounted a spiral spring 82 one end of which is connected to the corresponding pivot whilst the other reacts against a pin 83 projecting above and below said arm. Beneath the latter is fixed, to the corresponding pivot, a lever 84 adapted to contact pin 83.

Latch 75 is released responsively to a fixed stop 85 provided on the machine stand (FIG. 1a) in such manner that the loading clamp should close, in response to relaxation of spring 71, onto the cheeses fetched in the vertical position by the feed clamp. Pallets 80 are so dimensioned as to leave clear the central part of the cheeses and to ride off the clamping parts 41 and 45 of the corresponding feed clamps. This closing motion is accomplished responsively to rack 69 which, through the agency of pinions 63 and 65, drives toothed sectors 64 and 68, which in turn drive toothed sectors 77 and 78 carried by pivot-s 59 and 60. Opening of the leading clamps is effected at the end of travel by a fixed stop 86 (FIG. 1a) carried by the machine stand, which stop thrusts rod 70 against spring 71, so that the latter is comr J pressed and rack 69 acts in the opposite direction. During this return motion, the pins 83 tense the spiral springs 82, and the levers '84 abut against said pins and prevent the pallets from moving back in the opposite direction. When the loading clamps are closed, levers 84 are not in contact with pins 83. The closing force is provided by spiral springs 82, which additionally provide compensation for variations in cheese thickness.

The feed clamps and the loading clamps are actuated by the main motor 4, via a transmission 87 (FIGS. 1a and lb) which drives a shaft 88 through a bevel coupling (FIGS. la and 17). On shaft 88 is mounted a cam 89 which, through a lever 90 pivotally connected as at 91 and carrying a follower 92 riding on said cam, plus a rod 93, rotates a toothed sector 94 pivotally mounted as at 95. Sector 94 meshes with a toothed sector 96 mounted on shaft 34, which shaft pivots the feed clamps, the arcuate clamping portions 42 and 47 of which are thereby caused to assume either the cheese gripping horizontal position or the vertical position wherein the cheeses are fetched opposite the open loading clamps. The stops 55, which open the feed clamps and cause the same to be restrained by the latches 50, are operated by a rod 97 which is pivotally connected to the shaft 56 carrying these stops to a beam-lever 97 fulcrumed as at 99 and carrying at its other end a follower 100 riding over a cam 101 mounted on shaft 88.

The longitudinal shafts 58 carrying the feed clamps are secured to a spacer 102 the ends of which are pivotally connected through links 183 to one of the arms of bell-crank levers 104 pivotally mounted at 105 and the other arms of which carry followers 106 riding on cams 107 fixed to shaft 88. Thus, the loading clamps rigid with shafts 58 undergo a to-and-fro motion parallel to these shafts, the latter being guided on the machine through bearings exemplified by bearing 108.

The continuous circling apparatus as a whole is carried on a base consisting of two parts 109 interconnected by two spacers 110 and carrying two transverse shafts 111 and 112. Said base is supported on two uprights 113 movable vertically through supports 114a responsively to links 114 having their ends pivotallly connected, respectively, to the parts 109 and to levers 115, which levers are in turn pivotally connected to a transverse shaft 116 and carry followers 117 riding on carns 118 mounted on shaft 88.

Mounted on shaft 111 are two levers 119, one being a single-armed lever associated to one row of cheeses, and the other a double-armed lever associated to the other two rows of cheeses. The purpose of levers 119 is to raise the strip and to hook it upflow of the conveyor clamps in a given row thereof. Similarly, mounted on shaft 112 are levers 120 for raising the strip simultaneously with levers 119 and hooking the same downfiow of the conveyor clamps in the next row thereof.

With the upward movement of said base, the motion of levers 119 is imparted by the riding over a fixed cam 121 of a follower 122 carried by a lever 123 fixed to shaft 111. The movement of lever 120 is then imparted by means of a cam 124 fixed to shaft 88 and engaging with a follower 125 carried by one arm of a bell-crank lever 126 pivotally connected as at 127 and the other arm of which is connected through a link 128 to a camming lever 129 fulcrumed at 130. Riding on cam 129 is a follower 131 carried by a lever 132 fixed to shaft 112. Two levers 133 and 134 fixed respectively to shaft 111 and 112 are interconnected by a return spring 135. The principle of operation of the above system is described hereinbelow.

Upon operation of levers 119 and 120, the cheese in each row thereof is suspended from the corresponding conveyor clamp by a loop formed in a strip 136 supplied for each row of cheeses by a spool 137. This strip is guided by a guide 138 and shaft 112 and reaches the end of the corresponding lever 120, which end carries 6 a strip guiding pulley 139. Similarly, the end of each lever 119 carries a strip guiding pulley 140.

Refering to FIG. 13 shows that a coating carriage disposed beneath the machine includes a frame 141 mounted on wheels 142 which run on rails 143 arranged beneath the machine, perpendicularly to the conveyor. On frame 141 is mounted a fixed tank 144 containing the coating substance which is maintained in the liquid state therein by a suitable heat source such as electric resistors. A pump 145 impels the coating substance in fixed tank 144 into an upper tank 146 which is maintained at constant level by means of an overflow pipe 147.

Upper tank 146 is movable vertically and accordingly carries on each side a slide 148 fast with the bottom of tank 146 and adapted to be guided vertically by two pairs of rollers 149 and 150 mounted on cross-members secured to uprights 151 carried by frame 141. A stub 152 rigid with each slide 148 engages in the terminal fork of a lever 153 which is fulcrumed by means of a shaft 154 mounted on frame 141. Lever 153 carries at its other end a counterweight 155. Shaft 154 is additionally rigid with a lever 156 carrying at its end a follower 157 riding on a cam 158 which is fast with a shaft 159 rotated by an independent electric motor 160 which drives the same through a reduction gear 161. Shaft 159 carries a second cam 162 adapted to operatively contact a microswitch 163 and thereby to cut off the power supply to motor 160.

The coating carriage can be moved beneath or away from the machine by means of a bar 165. The carriage carries a lower stop 166 adapted to operate a micro switch 167 for limiting the degree of penetration of the carriage beneath the machine, and a stop 168 rigid with vertically movable upper tank 146 and adapted to operate a microswitch 169 for limiting the downward motion thereof. Non-operation of the microswitches by stops 166 and 168 will halt the machine.

A safeguard is provided to prevent upper tank 146 from being moved upwardly by counterweight if, for any reason whatsoever, it should not contain coating substance. This safeguard consists of a toggle system comprising a lever 178 pivotally connected to one of uprights 151 by a shaft 171. Lever 170 has one of its ends adapted to operate a microswitch 172 for cutting off the power supply to motor and main motor 4, and has its other end pivotally connected to a rod 173 which slides through a pivotal stop 174 carried by said upright and guiding a spring 175. Lever carries a part 175 capable of engaging a peg 177 carried on lever 153 when, responsively to hand lever 178, lever 170 has swung clockwise about shaft 171 whereby to operate microswitch 172. Lever 153 is then held in position without acting on tank 146, due to latching engagement of peg 177 in part 176.

Reference to FIGS. 23 and 24 shows that the strip shearing station includes a carriage consisting of two parts 179 carrying rollers 180 and 181 permitting longitudinal travel of said carriage along tracks 182, said parts being inter-connected by cross-members 183 and 184. Inside the carriage formed thus, on one side of the machine stand and beneath the corresponding part 179, is mounted a plate 185 carrying a cam groove 186 having two terminal portions 187 and 188 extending parallel to the direction of travel of the conveyor, and an intermediate obiique portion 189. A movable cross-member 198 carries at one end a follower 191 engaged into cam groove 186.

Each of parts 179 is coupled through an adjustable link 192 to the end of two-armed lever 193 pivotally connected as at 194 and spring-loaded by a spring 195. The other arm of lever 193 carries a follower 196 riding on a cam 197 mounted on a shaft 198 which is driven by a bevel wheel 199 fast with transmission shaft 10. Thus, at the same time as the carriage consisting of parts 179 and cross-members 183 and 184 is shifted longitudinally at the same speed as the conveyor, cross-member is shifted transversely responsively to cam groove 186.

Mounted on cross-member 190 are three shear supports 200. FIGS. 14 and 16 show that fixed to each such support are mutually spaced lower and upper mounting plates 201 and 202. Lower mounting plate 201 terminates in a trapezium-shaped projection 203 having bevelled edges 204 and 205. Mounted on shaft 206 and 207 in the gap between mounting plates 201 and 202 are cutting blades 208 and 209 having their facing edges bevelled as at 210 and 211 whereby to cooperate with bevelled edges 204 and 205. Blades 208 and 209 are fast with toothed sectors 212 and 213 rigidly centered on shafts 206 and 207. Sector 213 is formed with a nose-piece 214 adapted to engage with a latching lever 215 pivotally mounted as at 216 and spring-loaded as at 217. Latching lever 215 projects from mounting-plates 201 and 202 in the direction of crossmember 190.

Shaft 206 projects above mounting-plate 202 and is centered into a part 218 fixed to mounting plate 202 in spaced relationship therewith whereby to accommodate therebetween, mounted on shaft 206, an operating lever 219 carrying a peg 220 and biased by a return spring 221. A stop 222 fixed to mounting plate 202 limits the movement of lever 219 responsively to spring 221. A further stop 223 fixed beneath cross-member 183 is formed with a nose-piece 224 which coacts with the projecting part of latching lever 215 whereby to release the same. A stop 225 fixed to cross-member 183 cooperates with peg 220 whereby to rearm the latching system.

At the strip waste disposal station are disposed ramps 227 and 228 similar to the ramps 30 and 31 operating on the conveyor clamp arms 23 and 24. Said station includes nozzles 229 located beneath each row of conveyor clamps and fed by a blower 230. Beneath these several elements is arranged a bin 231.

Level with the shaft 232 carrying sprockets 8 is a longitudinal shaft 233 which is driven by shaft 232 through bevel gearing. Fast with shaft 233 are two cams 234a, 23 1b adapted to contact microswitches 235 (see FIGS.la and 2). The function of cam 234a is to close the circuit which energizes coating carriage motor 160 and to thereby control upward and downward motion of tank 146. The second cam 2341; causes conveyor 236 to be halted at every seventh cheese, through an electromagnet-operated locking system for example.

The different transmissions are so devised that mechanical-cam shafts 88 and 199 make one complete revolution and electric-cam shaft 233 one-seventh of a revolution as the conveyor moves through a step equal to the interval i separating two consecutive conveyor clamps.

The machine hereinbefore described functions in the following manner:

After it has fetched a cheese into the vertical position to enable it to be gripped by the corresponding loading clamp, feed clamp roller 53 contacts the stop 55 controlled by cam 101 and thereby opens said clamp which is then restrained in the open position by latch 50. The feed clamp then rocks responsively to cam 89 to enable its arcuate gripping portions 42 and 47 to be restored to the horizontal whilst encircling the cheese 32 then positioned at the end of conveyor 236. On completion of this motion, screw 54 acts on lever 51 to release latch 50, whereupon the feed clamp closes on the cheese responsively to spring 49, as shown in FIG. 5. The feed clamp then rocks anew upwardly in response to cam 89 and thereby fetches the cheese into the vertical position.

The loading clamp, which had previously been opened through abutment of its rod 70 against screw 86 and was restrained in that position by its latch 65, is positioned with respect to the cheeses as shown in FIG. 8. As it continues to advance with its shafts 58 responsively to cams 107, its latch 65 contacts stop 85, thereby causing pallets 80 to close on the cheese (see FIG. 6). At the same time, the feed clamp (FIG. 4), which was opened through the stop controlled by cam 101 contacting its roller 53, disengages from-the cheese in order not to obstruct longitudinal movement of the loading clamp.

The loading clamp then moves downflow of the machine responsively to cams 107 and brings cheese 32 into contact with the central portion of its downflow face, with the strand a of the strip pressed by the arm 23a of a conveyor clamp against the downflow face of the clamp stop 20a, the arm 24a of said conveyor clamp being held open by its cam 31 (FIG. 19) while the loading clamp continues to travel at the same speed as said conveyor clamp.

In the course of this motion, the base of the continuous circling system is raised by cams 118. Through their pulleys 139 and 140, the levers 119 and 120 guided by cams 121 and 132 grip the strip 136 guided by shaft 112 and loop it beneath the cheese. As the assembly continues to rise, lever 119 causes its pulley to fetch the strip upflow of abutment part 20a responsively to cam 121 as arm 24a rides off its cam 31 and closes whereby to grip the strip upflow of said part 20a. At the same time, through its pulley 139, lever 20 carries the strip downflow of the stop 20b of the next conveyor clamp at the same time as the arm 23b thereof rides off its cam 30 and closes whereby to grip the strip downfiow of said stop 20b (see FIG. 20). The base 109 then descends in response to cams 118, lever 119 releases by itself from arm 24a, and lever 120 is shifted in the downflow direction responsively to cam 124 and levers 129 and 132 whereby to release from arm 23b (FIG. 21). When said base reaches the end of its downward motion, strip 136, still guided by shaft 112, engages with pulley 139 of lever 120 (FIG. 22). The cheese 32 is then suspended from the conveyor clamp through the pressure exerted by the arms 23a and 24a thereof and is formed into a loop with two strands a and I).

Immediately after closure of arms 24a and 231;, the loading clarnp reaches the end of its travel and its rod 70 strikes screw 86, thereby opening the clamp and cansing spring 71 to be compressed and latch 65 to latch said clamp in the open position through positive engagement of stop 74 under the urge of spring 76. The loading clamp configuration is then as shown in FIG. 8 and the clamp is thus able to pass between two rows of cheeses during its return motion responsively to cams 107.

The conveyor system then fetches the cheeses circled thus by the strip loops to the coating station whereat the coating carriage has meanwhile been positioned to enable stops 166 and 168 to operate microswitches 167 and 169 and thereby cause motor to be started responsively to the cam 234a of electric-cam shaft 233.

Electric cam 234a closes the feed circuit to coating carriage motor 160 when a set of six cheeses in each of the three rows, suspended by the strip loops from six successive conveyor clamps, moves above said carriage with the upfiow one of said set of cheeses substantially immediately above the upflow wall of upper tank 146. Motor 160 and cam 158 cause tank 146 to be moved upwardly, thereby causing the three sets of six cheeses to be dipped simultaneously into the coating substance contained in said tank. Upon the three sets of cheeses being displaced by the conveyor to a position wherein their respective downflow cheeses approach the downflow wall of tank 146, cam 158 causes tank 146 to descend, thus causing the stop 1'68 thereon to operate microswitch 169. At the same time, cam 162 operates microswitch 163 and cuts off the current to motor 160. Upper tank 146 remains in its lowered position until three fresh sets of six cheeses each have been fetched above itwith the respective upflow" cheeses adjacent the upflow wall of tank 146.

Should the coating carriage not have been properly positioned to enable stop 166 to operate microswitch 167, or should tank 146 not descend sufficiently low to operate microswitch 169, the power supply circuit to main motor 4 will be opened and the machine halted. Should the coating substance contained in tank 146 accidentally escape therefrom, causing it to be emptied, the toggle type safeguard described precedingly can then be actuated by the operator, thus cutting off the current to motor 4 through microswitch 172 and halting the machine. Finally, should one of the cheeses dependent from the conveyor clamps shift relatively to its encircling strip loop and drop towards tank M6, it will be arrested by a protective grid 237 which is located at the top of the tank when the same is in its lowermost position and which can be withdrawn therefrom by means of cables 238 to enable any cheese deposited thereon to be removed.

Subsequent to the coating operation, the coating substance forms an all-enveloping cheese covering into which is embedded the strip loop with its ends protruding freely therefrom and impregnated with coating substance. The cheeses suspended and coated thus are then conveyed to the strip shearing station.

The shearing system will be in the configuration shown in FIG. 23, with each pair of shears open as shown in FIG. 14 when a line of cheese moves opposite the shears. The shearing system then moves in parallelism with the direction of travel of the conveyor at the same time as cross-member 19d moves transversely in response to cam groove 186. When nose-piece 224 contacts the projecting portion of latching lever 215 it releases the same against the countering effect of spring 217, thereby to release nose-piece 214 from arm 20%. Responsively to spring 221, arm 2% pivots in the closing direction with its shaft 2% and, through its toothed sector 212 meshing with toothed sector 213, causes like closing motion of arm 269. This motion continues until lever 219 contacts stop 222 (FIG. 15).

The two strip strands a and b protruding from the coated cheese are thus cut simultneously, whereupon the cheese drops into a tank 226 filled with water and in which its coating solidifies. Then, in response to cams 197, the carriage withdraws at the same time as crossmember 190 shifts in the opposite transverse direction in response to earn groove 186. Roller 22% then contacts stop 225 and resets the shears in their open position. At the end of travel, the system assumes the configuration shown in FIGS. 14 and 23.

The conveyor clamps continue their motion, carrying with them the cut strip strands. At the strip waste disposal station, ramps 227 and 228 open the clamp arms 23 and 24 when the clamps come level with nozzles 229. The air blown through the latter in the direction of the clamp abutment parts 2t} causes the strip waste to be detached and to fall into bin 231. The conveyor clamps then ride off ramps 227 and 228, close anew and are carried, rid of all waste strip, up to the cheese loading station, whereupon the strip circling and cheese coating cycle recommences.

As already stated, the second cam 2341) of electriccam shaft 233 causes the cheese feeder conveyor 236 to be halted every seventh cheese in order to provide the gap 2 (FIG. 1a) between consecutive sets of six conveyor clamps. After the sixth cheese has been placed in position and during the next conveyor step, the feed and loading clamps and the continuous circling devices operate in lost motion.

It should be noted that, in the machine shown in the drawings, the cheeses and the feed, loading, circling and shearing systems are arranged in three lines D, E, F (see FIGS. 17 and 23). The mechanical feed, loading and strip-circling elements are paired alternatingly in order to supply two out of three lines simultaneously. The feed clamps are accordingly paired for lines E and F, the loading clamps paired for lines D and E, and the continuous-circling rollers paired for lines E and F. This alternating pairing of the mechanisms ensures correct operation of the machine. Further, such an alternating arrangement permits of devising a machine with four,

. li five, six, seven or eight lines similar to lines D, E and F, using the same elements as those hereinbefore described.

It is to be noted that the subject machine of this invention is designed to operate even if cheeses should be missing from place to place, since the continuous-circling operation is not upset by the absence of one or more cheeses-a very important advantage in the operation of this machine.

Moreover, the use of an independent motor for raising the coating tank, with this motor being started when the cheeses are in position above the tank, affords another very important advantage. Both the time needed to process the cheeses by immersion, and the cheese immersion and withdrawal rate, which are governed by the cam 153, remain unaffected by changes in the conveyor speed and hence in the production output rate.

Finally, a few minutes sufiice to replace one self-contained waxing carriage by another waxing carriage to alter the colour or quality of the wax. This carriage may be held ready for duty outside the machine and could be plugged into a current outlet in order to keep the coating bath at the right temperature. This enables a single machine to be used to process cheeses differing in shape and, above all, in the quality of their coatings.

The coating substance is preferably wax, and proper waxing requires that the cheeses be immersed and withdrawn at rates which are very different from each other and much faster than the transiting speed of the cheeses. In the machine described hereinabove this requirement is met, on one hand by the independent nature of the immersing and transiting motions and, on the other, by cam 158 being appropriately contoured to achieve different immersion and withdrawal rates.

Any convenient substance may be used for the coating, examples being wax, a mixture of wax and paraflin, or any other coating substance having similar proofing and flexibility properties.

As is well known, the strip could consist of a non- Woven cloth formed with its fibres arranged lengthwise, a loosely woven fabric, a cellulose film, or could be made of aluminium or tin, and could be previously printed if desired.

The machine hereinbefore described for strip-circling and coating flat baby-gouda shaped cheeses may be used with any other cheese formed with circular bases providing a bearing surface for the two strands of the looped strip.

The subject machine of the invention can be used for providing a protective enveloping film on cheeses of such widely different kinds as melted cheese, examples of which are Cheddar, Chester, Gruyere or melted Dutch cheese, pressed-paste cheese such as Saint-Paulin, Edam or natural Dutch cheese, or cooked cheese such as Comt or Beaufort.

The machine can also be used for cheese made of soft paste, or of crusted paste such as Camembert, Carr de l'Est, Pont l'Eveque, etc., with the cheese being cut into two parts or into portions to enable it to be exported to distant countries more economically than by canning it.

What I claim is:

1. An automatic machine for encircling cheeses having two fiat parallel upflow and downfiow faces, by means of a thin nonelastic strip lying in a symmetry plane perpendicular to said flat faces, and for covering said cheeses with an impermeable flexible coating substance from which the ends of said strip freely protrude impregnated with said substance, said machine including a conveyor having a plurality of endless chains which have their runs arranged horizontally in parallel vertical planes and are driven in uniform motion and equipped with dual upflow and downfiow gripping clamps comprising upflow and downfiow gripping arms and grouped by successive sets parallel to conveyor motion and, beneath said conveyor,

in succession, means for conveying and restraining,

beneath each transverse line of clamps, a line of cheeses; means for continuously encircling the cheeses with continuous strip loops fixed to said clamps; a tank which contains the coating substance in the liquid state and is movable vertically whereby to coat with said substance, by immeresion, the cheeses hanging by said strip loops from clamps belonging to the same sets thereof associated to said chains; pairs of shears carried by a longitudinally movable carriage for simultaneously cutting the two strands protruding from the loops surrounding the coated cheeses hanging from a transverse line of clamps, said cheeses dropping into a coating solidifying tank; and means for ridding said clamps of their waste strip after the cutting operation, a control unit comprising a main motor and an independent motor having a supply circuit and actuating said movable tank being provided to drive sequentially said chains with their associated clamps, together with said conveying and restraining means, continuous-encircling means, coating tank and pairs of shears.

2. A machine according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that said conveyor includes two chains of which companion links at regular intervals are interconnected by spacers having mounted thereon a line of said dual-grip clamps whereby to permit simultaneous processing of a number of rows of cheeses equal to the number of clamps carried on each of said spacers.

3. A machine according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that each clamp comprises two arms springloaded by a return spring and held open by camming ramps, said arms on riding off said ramps, closing about the upflow and downflow faces of an abutment part and thereby tightening together the strip strands fetched to said clamps by said continuous-encircling means whereby to form cheese suspension loops.

4. A machine according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that each of said conveying and restraining means includes, on one hand, a feed clamp which is adapted to grip the rim of a cheese conveyed in the flat position to the machine and is tilted upwardly whereby to fetch the flat faces of that cheese into the vertical position and, on the other hand, a loading clamp which bears against said flat faces whilst leaving clear the centre of gravity zones thereof and travels beneath said conveyor at the same speed as the latter until completion of the cheese encircling operation, whereupon said clamp is opened to release the cheese and then translated back to its initial position, thus having a longitudinal to-and-fro motion.

5. A machine according to claim 4, characterized by the fact that each feed clamp comprises two gripping parts terminating in one or two arcuate portions radiused to match the cheese radius and supported on toothed racks engaging with a common pinion, one of said racks being latched in the clamp-open position by a latch adapted to be retracted by a fixed stop mounted on the machine and coacting with said latch whereby to release the same when said clamp reaches the horizontal position, and the other rack being adapted to butt against a stop which upon the clamp reaching its vertical position is effective in resetting said latch and maintaining said clamp in the open position.

6. A machine according to claim 4, characterized by the fact that each loading clamp includes a rack which through a pinion and toothed sectors operates one or two pairs of pallets for gripping the cheese on its upflow and downflow faces, said rack being associated to a latch for restraining said clamp in its open position and to a return spring which is compressed in that position and said clamp being closed at the end of its downflow travel by a fixed stop operating on said rack, whereby to reset said latch, and being opened at the end of its upflow travel responsively to said spring upon release of said latch by a further fixed stop.

7. A machine according to claim 6, characterized by the fact that each pallet is detachable and secured to the loading clamp body by a spring blade and loaded by a spiral spring which is tensed when said pallet opens, a stop being provided to limit closing pallet travel in the absence of a cheese.

8. A machine according to claim 4, characterized by the fact that said loading clamps convey a line of cheeses the downflow faces of which are in contact with said strip previously tightened by the downflow gripping arms of the clamps in the corresponding line.

9. A machine according to claim 8, characterized by the fact that said encircling means include a vertically movable base to which are pivotally connected, in respect of each encircling means, two upflow and downflow levers bearing on their ends pulleys for guiding the corresponding strip section, the downflow levers being operated by a cam whereby to take up the strips located downflow of the cheeses in any given transverse line thereof and fetch them into contact with the upflow faces of said cheeses up to a point level with the upflow gripping arms of the conveyor clamps in the same line thereof, at the same time as the upflow levers are operated simultaneously by a further cam whereby to take up the strips upflow of said downflow levers and fetch them up to the level of the upflow gripping arms of the clamps in the next line thereof and subsequently move said upflow levers in a downflow direction whereby to clear them from the clamps in said next line, a return spring being provided to urge these sets of levers against their associated earns.

10. A machine according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that said movable coating tank is of the constant level type and is mounted on a carriage movable transversely beneath said conveyor and above a fixed tank containing the coating substance which is in the liquid state therein and is conveyed to said movable tank by a pump, said movable tank being raised by lateral levers carrying counterweights operated by a main cam driven by said independent electric motor which is supported on said carriage, said levers being caused to act on a slide which is rigidly connected to said movable tank and is displaceable between fixed rollers.

11. A machine according to claim 10, chracterized by the fact that said independent motor is energized when, within each row, a set of cheeses hanging by said strip loops from successive conveyor clamps is fetched above said movable coating tank in its lowermost position, with the upflow cheese in the set thereof substantially level with the rearmost wall of said tank, whereby to cause through said main cam an upward motion of said movable tank followed by a downward motion thereof when the downflow cheese in each set thereof approaches the forward wall of said tank, said energization being arrested by a secondary cam rigid with said main cam and acting upon a microswitch when said movable tank reaches its lowermost position again.

12. A machine according to claim 10, characterized by the fact that said transversely movable carriage is equipped with a stop adapted to operate a microswitch in such manner as to authorize operation of the machine only if said carriage is correctly positioned, said movable tank likewise carrying a stop operating a further microswitch which authorizes operation of the machine only when said tank has reached its lowermost position.

13. A machine according to claim 10, characterized by the fact that it comprises a safeguard for preventing said movable tank from rising responsively to said counterweights when it is empty, said safeguard consisting of a manually operable toggle device which, in the event of said movable tank being empty, operates a microswitch for de-energizing said main and independent motors and positively latching a peg carried by one of said counterweighted levers.

14. A machine according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that said pairs of shears are mounted on a crossmember which is movable simultaneously with said conveyor, parallel to and transversely thereof, under the mutual action of a longitudinally movable carriage and a camming groove into which is engaged a roller carried by said cross-member, each pair of shears comprising two blades With facing bevelled edges pivotally connected respectively to a mounting-plate formed with a trapeziumshaped central portion having bevelled sides facing said bevelled blade edges, said blades being fast with meshing toothed sectors of which one is formed with a nose-piece lockingly engageable by a lever protruding from the pair of shears, one of said blades being rigid with a rollercarrying lever fastened to a return spring, said latching lever cooperating with a fixed release stop carried by said carriage, and said roller cooperating with a further fixed stop carried by said carriage whereby to reset said latching lever.

15. A machine according to claim 14, characterized by the fact that there is positioned beneath said pairs of shears a tank filled with water for receiving those cheeses of which the two suspension loop strands have been cut and for thereby solidify the substance coating those cheeses.

16. A machine according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that said means for ridding the clamps of waste strip subsequent to the strip cutting operation are conveyor clamp opening cams in conjunction With a blower supplying air to nozzles arranged facing said clamps, a Waste bin being positioned beneath said nozzles.

17. A machine according to claim 5, characterized by the fact that it comprises a first rnechanical-cam shaft for controlling tilting of said feed clamps, the stops for latching the latter, the longitudinal to-and-fro motion of said loading clamps, and the continuous-encircling means, a second mechanical-cam shaft for controlling longitudinal motion of the carriage carrying said pairs of shears, and a longitudinal shaft carrying thereon two cams coacting with contact switches whereby to close the independent tank actuating motor supply circuit and to interrupt the supply of cheeses to the machine for one step subsequent to a number of steps equal to the number of clamps constituting a set thereof.

18. A machine according to claim 17, characterized by the fact that said mechanical-cam shafts complete one full revolution and said electric-cam shaft one seventh of a revolution in the time it takes the conveyor to cover a step equal to the interval between two consecutive conveyor clamps.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 1,388,048 12/1964 France.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

R. 1. SMITH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR ENCIRCLING CHEESES HAVING TWO FLAT PARALLEL UPFLOW AND DOWNFLOW FACES, BY MEANS OF A THIN NONELASTIC STRIP LYING IN A SYMMETRY PLANE PERPENDICULAR TO SAID FLAT FACES, AND FOR COVERING SAID CHEESES WITH AN IMPERMEABLE FLEXIBLE COATING SUBSTANCE FROM WHICH THE ENDS OF SAID STRIP FREELY PROTRUDE IMPREGNATED WITH SAID SUBSTANCE, SAID MACHINE INCLUDING A CONVEYOR HAVING A PLURALITY OF ENDLESS CHAINS WHICH HAVE THEIR RUNS ARRANGED HORIZONTALLY IN PARALLEL VERTICAL PLANES AND ARE DRIVEN IN UNIFORM MOTION AND EQUIPPED WITH DUAL UPFLOW AND DOWNFLOW GRIPPING CLAMPS COMPRISING UPLFOW AND DOWNFLOW GRIPPING ARMS AND GROUPED BY SUCCESSIVE SETS PARALLEL TO CONVEYOR MOTION AND, BENEATH SAID CONVEYOR, IN SUCCESSION, MEANS FOR CONVEYING AND RESTRAINING, BENEATH EACH TRANSVERSE LINE OF CLAMPS, A LINE OF CHEESES; MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY ENCIRCLING THE CHEESES WITH CONTINUOUS STRIP LOOPS FIXED TO SAID CLAMPS; A TANK WHICH CONTAINS THE COATING SUBSTANCE IN THE LIQUID STATE AND IS MOVABLE VERTICALLY WHEREBY TO COAT WITH SAID SUBSTANCE, BY IMMERSION, THE CHEESES HANGING BY SAID STRIP LOOPS FROM CLAMPS BELONGING TO THE SAME SETS THEREOF ASSOCIATED TO SAID CHAINS; PAIRS OF SHEARS CARRIED BY A LONGITUDINALLY MOVABLE CARRIAGE FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY CUTTING THE TWO STRANDS PROTRUDING FROM THE LOOPS SURROUNDING THE COATED CHEESES HANGING FROM A TRANSVERSE LINE OF CLAMPS, SAID CHEESES DROPPING INTO A COATING SOLIDIFYING TANK; AND MEANS FOR RIDDING SAID CLAMPS OF THEIR WASTE STRIP AFTER THE CUTTING OPERATION, A CONTROL UNIT COMPRISING A MAIN MOTOR AND AN INDEPENDENT MOTOR HAVING A SUPPLY CIRCUIT AND ACTUATING SAID MOVABLE TANK BEING PROVIDED TO DRIVE SEQUENTIALLY SAID CHAINS WITH THEIR ASSOCIATED CLAMPS, TOGETHER WITH SAID CONVEYING AND RESTRAINING MEANS, CONTINUOUS-ENCIRCLING MEANS, COATING TANK AND PAIRS OF SHEARS. 